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History · Elkhorn Township

20% of Elkhorn Township’s homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1928 on.

0on the National Register
20%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory

What stands out about Elkhorn Township’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Elkhorn Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Elkhorn Township, and 2 old place names are still on the map.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Elkhorn Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Elkhorn Township’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Gilbirdsport
1868–1881
Marden
1896–1905
18601940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
GilbirdsJaques
Gone or out of use
Grove SchoolschoolHebron ChurchchurchJohnson SchoolschoolNorth Bend SchoolschoolPatterson SchoolschoolPleasant Hill SchoolschoolWashington Schoolschool
11cemeteries and burying grounds inside Elkhorn Township
DearbornGilbirdsHebronLawMardenNewenhamReevesRuskStonerTuckerZion Lutheran

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

The story so far

Elkhorn Township, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Elkhorn Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Elkhorn Township is one of nine townships in Brown County, Illinois, USA. As of the 2020 census, its population was 290 and it contained 153 housing units.

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 346 to 290 (-16%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Elkhorn Township, 1868 to 1928

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1868Post officeThe Gilbirdsport post office opens
  3. 1881Post officeThe Gilbirdsport post office closes
  4. 1896Post officeThe Marden post office opens
  5. 20th century
  6. 1905Post officeThe Marden post office closes
  7. 1928On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
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On the map

Elkhorn Township on the map, 1928 to 1980

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Elkhorn Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Elkhorn Township on the 1928 USGS mapElkhorn Township on the 1931 USGS mapElkhorn Township on the 1980 USGS map1928Meredosia sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Elkhorn Township.

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Buckhorn TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townMount Sterling TownshipIts storyBVersailles TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townPerry Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Elkhorn Township’s history

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
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Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →

From U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.